OPI Flit a Bit & Winnie the Pooh

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I just finished my Nails of the Day, and thought I'd show you while the rest of the world sleeps.  I decided to spring for the last OPI Summer Flutter color, Flit a Bit.  Oranges have been appealing to my lately, and it's an orange creme, so I got it.

Flit a Bit is a three-coater for me, but the dry time was not bad.  Once I got it on, it was a little more of an orange creme than I was after - it just kind of says, "Hi!  I'm orange."  I figured the best way to work with it and have a little fun would be to add some Winnie the Pooh water decals.  Not exactly an obvious choice, but they were there in my nail art stuff and not a whole lot of colors lend themselves to Winnie the Pooh, so I went with it. I added the water decals and another coat of top coat to seal them, and it's suddenly 1975 for me again.

OPI Flit a Bit Nail Polish, Three Coats, with Winnie the Pooh Water Decals

It's festive, if nothing else, and how can I possibly get cranky today when I have Tigger doing a handstand on my ring fingers?

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!  

SpaRitual Spice of Life & Water Decals

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I went to bed early, condemning myself to being up super early. So I watched Cheers and did a manicure.

I dug into the SpaRituals and picked out Spice of Life, a dark red shimmer, and then looked through the water decals. There were others I got from Trans Design I did not show you in the package because they're small, and I chose some gold ones from those.

I used two coats of Spice of Life, on coat of Diamont, then waited about five minutes before applying the decals. I was quite pleased with these - they're sturdy and didn't fall apart at all. I think they look like gold foil on the nail, and am really happy with the outcome.

SpaRitual Spice of Life Nail Polish, Two Coats, with Gold Water Decals

To apply the decals, I just cut out a strip of ones I wanted, submerged them in water for about 20 seconds, waited about another 10 seconds, then the decals slid around on the backing paper. I slid them off one at a time and applied them. One benefit to water decals is they're very forgiving with respect to placement - they'll slide on the nail, and if one dried out a bit, I just got a drop of water on my finger to finish adjusting it. They lie nice and smooth, much more so than any other decals. I finished them with a coat of Diamont to seal them.

That's the update for this morning, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

SpaRitual She's A River & Water Decals

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Predictably, I couldn't stand a 3rd choice manicure, so I changed it.

Maybe a little over a month ago, a site had a little sale on SpaRituals for a few days, and they were all of $2. I got a bunch that I needed to replace, and one of my favorites, She's A River, was available. Two years ago, this was my go-to summer color.

It's a sheer-ish blue shimmer with the great SpaRitual glow. It can be opaque in a lot of coats on its own, but I used it over white. I couldn't find Essie Walk Down the Aisle, so I used one coat of Orly White Out, then three of She's A River.

SpaRitual She's A River Nail Polish, Three Coats over White

That would have been just fine on its own, but having taken out the water decals this morning, I had to give them a go. These are really good ones - easy to apply and not too fragile, but still smooth.

SpaRitual She's A River Nail Polish, Three Coats over White with Water Decals

The other thing that happened is I had the resistance of a two year old for the Konad gem decals. I have some one the way - opening that page to get the link did me in...

That's the update for today. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Orly Foil FX & Nail Art Goodies

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'd ordered Orly Luxe from the Foil FX Collection, and finally opened the box from Trans Design only to find some nail art stuff I'd forgotten I'd ordered, so I thought I'd show you both today. Also, I got an email from Jessica at WowSoCool telling me she's now carrying those nail art decals I showed you two of not too long ago, so I have pics of those for you as well. I'll start with the mani and then so the nail art stuff in case you don't care about it.

My grand plan for today was to use all three Foil FX colors (gold, rose gold, and silver). I started by using Luxe and Shine, alternating nails, as a base, and was going to stamp Rage over it. That totally didn't work out - the rose gold didn't show up on the gold. Plan B was to stamp Shine over Luxe and Luxe over Shine, which also didn't work out. These are just too foily and metallic for o to show up on the other. On to the bailout plan: stamp in Black Konad Special Polish just to get the manicure over with. I'd lost patience and interest at that point. This is what I ended up with.

Orly Luxe and Orly Shine Nail Polish, Two Coats & Konad M73

I don't love it, but it will get me through the day... On to the fun stuff. I'll show you the water decals first. Trans Design has a bunch of cool nail art stuff. I also got striping tape, but who want to look at a roll of striping tape?

Flower Water Decal Packet from TD

Butterfly Water Decal Packet from TD

Hearts Water Decal Packet from TD

That's it for water decals. On to the Konad decals, which are way over the top. The looks like ornate Korean nail art, only requiring the effort of applying a decal. They're $3 at WowSoCool. That's a link to them, and they're really cool.

That's what I have for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nubar Isis Purple & Water Decals

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm on the road today, but thought I'd just give you a peek at my travel manicure. I like to wear fun manis when I see my good friends (also since I'll be stuck with it for a few days), so that's what I did for today.

I started with some of my Kiss water decals, this time paying attention to making sure the designs are all going in the same direction on each hand (I'll get a handle on these things yet!). I looked at a few options to go under them, and settled on Nubar Isis Purple. I did a heavy coat of ridge filling base coat (to fill in the trouble spots where the Zoya Matte Velvet ate the overlay on my left hand), two coats of Isis Purple, one of Diamont, the decals, and another coat of Diamont to seal the decals. All done! It's actually a pretty nice mani for under twenty minutes' effort, if I do say so myself...

That's all for now, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Water Decals

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have a new thing I'm having fun with: water decals! I've seen them, admired them, and now I finally tried them. They're great!

First up, I have my mani for a get-together with my favorite fun cousin today. It seemed like a great opportunity to use the Winnie the Pooh (!!!) decals I got. It's silly and immature, and I like it.

I started with two coats of Nubar Orange Creme, did a coat of Diamont, then added the decals and sealed them with another coat of Diamont. To use the decals, I wet a sponge, set the decals on it front side facing up, then used a tweezers to apply them once they slid around on the backing. This is one of the most lighthearted manis ever.

They aren't just silly, though. I got some that are more elegant that I used yesterdy to figure out how to use the decals. This is L.A. Girls Can U Dig It?, with the manicure done the same way as the one above.

I love these things. They're perfectly smooth on the nail (my first attempt wasn't perfect, but I think I have it down now), and they're fun.

That's what I have for you for now, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!